The definition of homelessness means not having a home; You don’t have to be living on the street to be homeless – even if you have a roof over your head you can still be without a home. This may be because you don’t have any rights to stay where you live or your home is unsuitable for you.

What situations mean you are homeless?

You might be defined as homeless if you are:

• Sleeping on the streets
• Staying with friends or family
• Staying in a hostel
• Living in overcrowded conditions
• At risk of violence in your home

Why Do Younger People End Up Homeless?

Family Breakdown

Relationship breakdown, usually between young people and their parents or step-parents, is one of the key causes of youth homelessness. People can end up coming to SafeSpace because of relationship breakdown or being told to leave. Many have experienced long-term problems at home, sometimes involving violence, leaving them without the family support networks that are fundamental to younger peoples lives.

Mental Health

Often, mental health plays a role in peoples lives, who come to us. We all have mental health, and some days this can be good and others not so good, having no stability or a safe place to be inevitably affects our wellbeing. They can experience a wide range of different and often complex problems that can go undiagnosed. Others are tackling problems such as substance misuse, which can also affect their mental health.

Gang Crime

Gang crime or crime in general can also affect young people. This can lead to homelessness as they may not be safe in their homes or their may parents decide their life of crime is hard to handle.

What we do:

Did you know that in 2017 SafeSpace Pendle and Rossendale had a total of 252 referrals looking for help?

There is an epidemic of young people that need services like ours, we want to help them through tough times in their life and set them on a positive path during their time with us.

SafeSpace Pendle & Rossendale provides short and medium stay supported accommodation and support at high quality, purpose-built accommodation projects in Pendle and Rossendale. Our facility is for young people between the ages of 16 and 21 who are homeless or facing homelessness.

Our accommodation is available for up to 2 years depending on the level of need and risk of the individual. When you stay with SafeSpace you will be treat fairly, helped to gain confidence and empowerment in order to make your own decisions to lead an independent life. When the time approaches for people to leave we always ensure they are moving to a safe and comfortable environment, whether that be moving back home or having their own place.

Pendle, like a lot of places in the UK, has an issue with homelessness. SafeSpace Pendle has 19 rooms to accommodate individuals, as well as 14 in our Rossendale building. Our rooms are always full and we have an ever growing waiting list but we can always offer support and help to access accommodation. Our expanding waiting list demonstrates just how many people require our services, but with further work and support we can grow to accommodate more people suffering with homelessness.

We are here to help and support young people, in difficult times. Homelessness can happen to anyone regardless of race, wealth, education or opportunity. Sometimes young people find themselves needing to live independently, but without the life skills they need to find a suitable place and maintain their tenancy. That’s why we are here; to help, and keep providing the service we do for people.

We welcome donations of cash, clothes, food and small household goods such as crockery, books and kitchen equipment. You can donate online at the https://mydonate.bt.com/events/safespace/190090website.